Pete's Fresh Market buys Oak Park Dominick's

Pete's Fresh Market recently bought a former Dominick's store in Oak Park. This is a photo of the chain's Oakbrook Terrace location. (Chuck Berman, Chicago Tribune)

Pete's Fresh Market is aiming to open a store in the former Dominick's building in Oak Park by the end of the year.

The Chicago supermarket franchise purchased the building Jan. 24, and plans to make extensive changes and renovations before reopening, Pete's Executive Officer Stephanie Dremonas said Monday.

"We're not just going to change the name and put in our sign and open the door," Dremonas said.

Safeway Inc. closed the Dominick's at 259 Lake Street in December along with the supermarket's approximately 70 other stores.

The "very diverse neighborhood" of the Oak Park location appealed to Pete's, a franchise of nine stores that began in 1994, Dremonas said. The new Oak Park store is one of four the company plans to open in the next 2 to 3 years, she said.

The company is drawing up plans for the coming renovation, which will include a "gutting" and overhaul of the interior and refurbishing the exterior, she said.

Pete's started as a produce store, and produce remains the company's "backbone," Dremonas said. The store will offer a variety of organic groceries along with conventional goods, she said.

The focus on produce was a selling point for the Oak Park Development Corporation, whose officials have been meeting with Pete's representatives since around early December, Oak Park Development Corporation Vice President Viktor Schrader said.

"We had been hearing from the community that they'd like a produce market, so we felt that there was a strong positive connection between Pete's product and what the local market was wanting," Schrader said.

Residents have said they were disappointed when Billy's Fruit Market closed a few years ago, and some have been traveling to Angelo Caputo's Fresh Markets in Elmwood Park for produce, he said.

Renovations to the 22-year-old building will boost the property taxes that come from the market, Schrader added. In 2012, Cook County assessed about $282,000 in property taxes at the site, according to Cook County Treasurer's Office figures.